Petey_Alchemist - Slashdot User

Submission + - Who is the best candidate for technology?

Submitted by Petey_Alchemist on Saturday February 02, 2008 @12:10PM

Petey_Alchemist writes: With Super Tuesday coming up and the political field somewhat winnowed down, the process of picking the nominees for the next American President is well underway. At the same time, the Internet is bustling through a period of legal questions. Copyright infringement, net neutrality, wireless spectrums, content filtering, broadband deployment: all of these are just a few of the host of issues that the next President will be pressured to weigh in on during his or her tenure.

Now I understand that Slashdot, like most engineers I know, probably prefers a "hands-off" government approach when it comes to technology in general and the Internet in particular.

With that in mind, who do you think would be the best (or worst) candidate on Internet issues?

Submission + - Financial Analyst: Second Life is a Pyramid Scheme

Submitted by

Petey_Alchemist

on Wednesday January 24, 2007 @02:36AM

Petey_Alchemist writes: "Silicon Valley gossip rag Valleywag is carrying a story about Second Life being a new spin on the old pyramid scheme.

The article, which consists mostly of selections from the report of financial consultant Randolph Harrison, suggests that not only are most people deceived about the amount of money they can make in Second Life, but also about how easily they can withdraw it.

From the report:

"Like the paid promotion infomercials that run on CNBC, sadly SecondLife is a giant magnet for the desperate, uninformed, easily victimized. Its promises of wealth readily ensnare those who can least afford to lose their money or lives to such scam in exactly the same way that real estate investor seminars convince divorcees with low FICO scores to buy houses sight unseen with no money down.

Even some corporations have dedicated marketing budgets to creating a presence in SecondLife. While few will shed a tear for the frivolousness of these companies' spending, such adds a false legitimacy to SecondLife. Interestingly, no legitimate, real world corporation has earned net profit from SecondLife activities.

That's because there are but a very tiny handful that profit off of the SecondLife economy. A handful of casino owners, large scale virtual land flippers, and brothel owners are responsible for nearly all of the real money extracted from the game. And they continue to attract new recruits to the bottom of the pyramid.""

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